Underwater lights...

[artbyjody]

I am going to preface that this post is a result of an article I read here:

Underwater lights: whiskey tango foxtrot?! | Navagear.com

I normally do not post to those kind of blogs (but highly recommend adding it to your "must read resources, esp if in the PNW).

I actually see value in underwater lights:

Greater visibility when mooring in a crowded anchorage. It is also less obtrusive than say running your spreader lights. Places like Port Madison, where even with a full moon you can almost have to transit under radar - to avoid hitting a moored / anchored boat.





At night, when in shallow areas gives you a visual of what you are dealing with. Rudimentary things like checking rudder position, etc...





Having to dive the boat beyond normal daylight, it is basically a hands free work light.




Lastly, if you have a bunch of "party guests" - someone goes over etc, I can see it as a tool for the person getting back to the boat in pitch black.



What are your thoughts? Do you have them? Mock them? Way better discussion than solar sticks versus light sabers...

[sailingdog]

Also good for fishing at night... they attract baitfish.

[k1vsk]

Only time I see them is on the ubiquitous Hinkley Picnic boats at Nantucket Boat Basin, The lights are invariably blue and the idiots who own them have the traditional pink sweater tied around their neck with an apple martini in their hand (pinkie finger upturned). Guess this puts me in the "mocking" category.

[artbyjody]

Originally Posted by k1vsk

Only time I see them is on the ubiquitous Hinkley Picnic boats at Nantucket Boat Basin, The lights are invariably blue and the idiots who own them have the traditional pink sweater tied around their neck with an apple martini in their hand (pinkie finger upturned). Guess this puts me in the "mocking" category.

Glad I do not own a pink sweater and hate martinis....

[smackdaddy]

Dude - I like it! "Ground effect" for the Smacktanic!

[kaluvic]

I say yes to underwater lighting....cant see a thing wrong with em . Don’t have them but would definitely install them!

...now lets throw in some cheap video cameras....and we're all set.

[Selkirk]

No, we never had underwater lighting on Tupelo Honey, our O-Day 322, but back in the day when I was raising kids I rigged an automobile headlight up to a float and tossed it into the water at night so that the kids could ooh and aah at all the stuff that was attracted to it.

And you should SEE my wife when I turn the light on in the hot tub at night!

OK....but to me she's pretty.

[Faster]

You make some interesting points of possible practical uses/aspects of these lights... seen lots of them - but usually on Megayachts in the Caribbean.

The one negative that comes to mind is yet another through hull fitting, surely, and one that likely doesn't have a proper shutoff....

[donwsailn]

We scuba, and we also fish. UW lights are good for both pursuits.

On a night dive, an underwater light makes easy to tell which one of those dark shapes overhead you are supposed to swim back to ;-)

For fishing, the UW lights attract small baitfish which after a while attract the larger fish.

I'd like to install them on my Irwin C38, but they are a ways down the priority list at the moment. (I'd also really like to install an underwater video camera to help avoid underwater obstructions like coral heads, but that is also down the priority list).

My opinions,

Don W.

[Zanshin]

I spoke with a powerboat owner with underwater lights who told me that the boat needs to be hauled in order to change them! And I seem to recall reading that they are not allowed to be used in the USVI National Parks (or perhaps it was in St. Barts) because the lights do something to confuse the turtles' mating patterns.

Nonetheless they do look pretty cool and bring in big curious fish!